Protective attachment for shoes



Sept. 13, 1966 H. R. GRAHAM ETAL 3,

PROTECTIVE ATTACHMENT FOR SHOES Filed June l8, 1965 INVENTORS Harald R Graham Gerald A Graham United States Patent 3,271,888 PROTECTIVE ATTACHMENT FOR SHOES Harold R. Graham and Gerald A. Graham, Tyler, Tex., assignors to James W. Fair, Tyler, Tex. Filed June 18, 1965, Ser. No. 465,005 3 Claims. (CI. 36-72) The present invention generally relates to an attachment for shoes and more particularly an attachment which will protect the foot of the wearer from injury due to objects dropped thereon.

In many industrial operations, foot injuries represent a considerable percentage in injuries sustained by workers. In an effort to solve this problem, shoes having rigid metallic toe inserts have been provided. However, the cost of such shoes is prohibitive and, at best, afford only limited protection for the foot since they only protect the toe area and do not afford any protection for the metatarsul arch or adjacent region of the foot. There has also been an endeavor to provide an attachment for a shoe but the devices normally have constant engagement with the floor surface thereby interfering with the normal walking or standing characteristics of a person using such devices. Such heretofore known devices have been rather bulky, clumsy and generally unacceptable.

In view of the above, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an attachment for shoes in the form of a protector which affords complete protection to the upper surface of the foot from the ankle region to the toe area and which is supported from the shoe in such a manner that during normal use of the device, the standing and walking characteristics of a wearer are not effected in any way whatsoever since the attachment is supported in a manner that it is spaced from a floor surface at all times during normal operation and will immediately move downwardly when a weight drops onto the attachment thus immediately transmitting the impact to the floor surface thus protecting the foot.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoe attachment having a novel structure for supporting the attachment in relation to the foot and shoe so that it is normally spaced slightly from the shoe thereby enabling the attachment to move downwardly when engaged by a weighted object or the like so that the lower edges of a trough-shaped inverted protecting member will become engaged with a floor surface thereby transmitting the force of impact thereto.

Other objects of the present invention will reside in its simplicity of construction, ease of attachment, effectiveness for protecting the foot and its relatively inexpensive manufacturing cost.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the shoe attachment of the present invention installed in normal positions on a wearers shoe;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal, sectional View taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 22 of FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural details of the attachment and its relationship to the shoe;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view with portions of the attachment broken away and illustrating the final position of the attachment when the weighted object is dropped thereon;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIGURE 2 illustrating further structural details of the protective attachment; and

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the attachment of the present invention illustrating the structure incorporated therein for supporting the attachment from the upper surface of a shoe.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the shoe attachment of the present invention for attachment in overlying relation to the shoe 12 supported in a conventional manner on the foot of a wearer 14. The shoe 12 includes the usual uppers 16, sole 18 and heel 20. The shoe is retained in place by the usual shoe laces 22 and insofar as the present invention is concerned, the shoe 12 may be of any conventional construction and either a work shoe having an upper which extends to the ankle of above or a dress shoe of any type including slip-on loafers, low quarter shoes, high quarter shoes and the like.

The attachment 10 includes an elongated trough-shaped substantial rigid member 24 having a generally inverted -shaped configuration as illustrated in FIGURE 4 with the inner end thereof being curved upwardly as at 26 and the forward end thereof being relatively narrow as at 28. The rear bottom 30 of the body 24 has a strap 32 secured thereto as by'rivets 34 or other equivalent fastening de- 'vices and the strap 32 is provided with a plurality of grommets or eyes 36 incorporated therein for receiving the hook 38 on a buckle 40 carried by an elastic strap 42 attached to the opposite corner by a suitable rivet or the like so that the elastic strap 42 may be placed behind the heel portion of the upper 16 in the manner illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 3 for forming a portion of the support for the body 24 in relation to FIGURE 12.

Attached to the body 24 forwardly of the strap 32 is another strap 44 secured in place by a suitable fastening device such as a rivet 46, heavy-duty snap fastener or the like with the strap 44 being provided with a plurality of holes 48. A flexible strap 50 extends under the sole 18 just forwardly of the heel 20 and has a buckle 52 at one end thereof provided with a tongue 54 for adjustable association with the strap 44. A similar buckle 56 is provided at the other end of the strap 50 for adjustable association with a strap 58 attached to the body 24. The strap 50 is flexible and may be of resilient material for resiliently biasing the protector 10 into its desired relationship to the shoe 12. If desired, rivets 46 may be employed or snap fasteners of a heavy-duty type may be employed so that once the buckles 52 and 56 have been adjusted, it is then only necessary to unsnap and snap a snap fastener for rendering operation of the strap 50 easy to perform.

For suspending the body 24 in spaced relation to the shoe 12, there is provided a front transversely extending resilient strap 60 extending across the interior of the body 24 as illustrated in FIGURE 4 with the ends of the strap 60 being secured by anchoring rivets 62 or the like whereby the resilient member 60 serves to retain the body 24 spaced above the shoe upper 16 and spaced from the floor surface with such space being designated by numeral 64.

At the inner end or the upturned end 26 of the body 24, a transverse strap 66 is provided which extends out through slots 68 and terminates in hook-type buckles 70 for engagement with an eyelet 72 formed in the upturned portion 26 of the body 24. The strap 66 is resilient in nature and includes a wider pad 74 mounted thereon which has slits 76 receiving the strap 66 therethrough so that the strap 66 passes along the upper surface of the pad 74 so that the pad 74 actually engages the shoe in the area which covers the metatarsul arch. The function of the strap 66 and pad 74 combined with the adjustable resilient strap 42 serves to pivot the body 24 towards the toe end thereof and prevent the body 24 from riding upwardly and inwardly in relation to the shoe upper 16.

A third transverse strap 78 is disposed within the trough-shaped body 24 and extends transversely between the walls of the body 24 and is anchored thereto by rivets or other suitable fastening means 80. The strap 78 is in the form of a relatively wide plastic strap which engages the shoe and serves somewhat as a slide or skid for the attachment when it slides forwardly and downwardly in relation to the floor surface. The bottom edge of the walls of the body 24 are rounded as at 82 so that when it does ultimately engage the floor surface, the weight thereon will tend to be cammed off the top surface of the protective attachment and when a weight moves off of the protector in this manner, it will pivot the forward end of the protector downwardly in a rocking motion.

The strap 60 is an eleastic member while the strap 66 also is elastic and the strap 78 is a flexible relatively wide plastic member that is flexible but relatively inelastic but it does have sufficient elasticity to absorb some of the initial shock and enable the body 243 to move slightly closer to the shoe as it moves downwardly so that the rounded edges 18 thereof contact the floor surface alongside of the sole 18 so that the entire force of the impact will then be transmitted to the floor thereby protecting the foot. Even if the object which drops on the protector is on top of the protector, the wearer may extricate his shoe by merely disconnecting the strap 42 and 50 and sliding his foot out from under the protector with the weight or object thereon. Also, due to the rounded nature of the bottom edge of the body, it will tend to tilt forwardly thus serving somewhat of a cam to slide the weighted object off of the protector at the toe end thereof.

When the device is worn in a normal manner, the wearer is hardly aware of the device inasmuch as the weight thereof is quite light and no external forces are exerted on the foot. The body is preferably constructed of a rigid fiber reinforced plastic material having the requisite strength requirement for protecting the foot from injury due to falling objects and the like. The body 24 may be provided with any suitable color and, in fact, provided with a glossy finish so that the device may be effectively worn with dress shoes by persons such as those having duties Within an industrial plant and also other duties relating to contact with customers or the like thereby providing a neat appearance with the attachment hardly being noticeable. Further, in certain industrial plants, it may be desirable for personnel in one department to have one color attachment while personnel in the other departments having other colored attachments to facilitate recognition of personnel and also enables those responsible for safety regulations being carried out to recognize the presence or absence of the attachments of the present invention. The cost of the attachment of the present invention may be maintained relatively low and the attachment may be used with various shoes and very little replacement will exist in view of the long lasting rugged characteristics thereon.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A protective attachment for shoes comprising a generally trough-shaped rigid body having an upturned inner end portion and a generally rounded narrow toe portion and including longitudinally curved lower edges adapted to be spaced laterally outwardly beyond the periphery of the sole of a shoe and normally spaced a predetermined distance above a supporting surface, means connected to said body and extending around portions of a shoe for retaining the body in overlying relation to the shoe, and resilient means extending across the interior of the body in spaced relation to the inner surface thereof and adapted to engage the upper surface of a shoe at longitudinally spaced points for spacing the body above the shoe a distance at least equal to the distance between the lower edges of the toe portion and the supporting surface to enable the body to move downwardly so that the lower edge thereof will transmit forces directly to the supporting surface when an impact is received on said body.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for securing the body to the shoe includes an adjustable and detachable, resilient heel strap for enabling said body to tilt forwardly and enabling the shoe to be extracated rearwardly from the body when the lower edges thereof are engaged with a supporting surface.

3. In combination with a shoe having a sole and an upper attached to the sole, a protector for the shoe comprising an elongated inverted trough-shaped member overlying the forward portion of the shoe and having lower longitudinally curved edges spaced laterally outwardly from the side edges of the shoe sole, resilient means attached to the undersurface of the trough-shaped member and engaging the upper surface of the shoe upper to space the trough-shaped member away from the shoe upper a distance at least equal to the distance between the lowest point of the curved lower edges of the trough-shaped member and a supporting surface, detachable strap means connected to the trough-shaped member and extending around the heel, said strap member being elastic to enable the trough-shaped member to tilt forwardly when a force is exerted downwardly on the top surface thereof and the curved lower edges are engaged with a supporting surface and enabling the shoe to be extricated rearwardly from the trough-shaped member when the curved edges thereof are engaged with a supporting surface whereby any forces transmitted to the trough-shaped member by an impact or the like will not be transmitted to the shoe or foot within the shoe but will be transmitted directly to the supporting floor surface by engagement of the longitudinally curved lower edges of the trough-shaped member with the floor surface before the inner surface of the trough-shaped member comes into contact with the shoe upper.

FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A PROTECTIVE ATTACHMENT FOR SHOES COMPRISING A GENERALLY TROUGH-SHAPED RIGID BODY HAVING AN UPTURNED INNER END PORTION AND A GENERALLY ROUNDED NARROW TOE PORTION AND INCLUDING LONGITUDINALLY CURVED LOWER EDGES ADAPTED TO BE SPACED LATERALLY OUTWARDLY BEYOND THE PERIPHERY OF THE SOLE OF A SHOE AND NORMALLY SPACED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE ABOVE A SUPPORTING SURFACE, MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID BODY AND EXTENDING AROUND PORTIONS OF A SHOE FOR RETAINING THE BODY IN OVERLYING RELATION TO THE SHOE, AND RESILIENT MEANS EXTENDING ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF THE BODY IN SPACED RELATION TO THE INNER SURFACE THEREOF AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE UPPER SURFACE OF A SHOE AT LONGITUDINALLY SPACED POINTS FOR SPACING THE BODY ABOVE THE SHOE A DISTANCE AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE LOWER EDGES OF THE TOE PORTION AND THE SUPPORTING SURFACE TO ENABLE THE BODY TO MOVE DONWARDLY SO THAT THE LOWER EDGE THEREOF WILL TRANSMIT FORCES DIRECTLY TO THE SUPPORTING SURFACE WHEN AN IMPACT IS RECEIVED ON SAID BODY. 